Happy Birthday, Shen!

The big birthday itself was last Saturday, October 25. However, since we already had the Playgroup party planned, and since we have been coached to minimize the chance of "overstimulation," the celebration of Shen's birthday was put off until this past Monday. He got a lot of cards, a big, new car (from the movie CARS), and a really cool wooden train set from our neighbors, the Wards. To celebrate Shen's birthday, Margie Ward and her two sons, Colin and Armin, joined us for cake and a little playtime. Shen sat "patiently" as daddy read all the cards to him, and then devoured his birthday cake. Big brother, Connor, helped open presents (as only a big brother can) and little man spent the rest of his night playing with his new train set.
Enjoy the pictures of Shen's 4th birthday party!!!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Adoption Playgroup Halloween

This past weekend, we took Shen to his first Halloween party! It was a blast! Little man wore a giraffe outfit and seemed to fit in pretty well, considering he may have never seen a bunch of kids in Halloween outfits before. He painted a pumpkin (note the picture), played Halloween bingo, played games with all the kids and parents, and then tried to break a Halloween pinata with all the other children.
The party lasted about two hours but the time went by so fast, it was incredible!
Sunday, we went to the mall to get a new snowblower (wait till Shen sees snow for the first time), and then went swimming at the fitness center. He LOVES to swim, even though he can't.
We hope all of you are well.
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

My First Trip Away/Shen's New Monkey

Well, today is the day we have thought about, planned for, but no one knows what will happen. I leave for my first trip away since Little Man and I met on September 8. The GREAT part is that Jodie has really connected with Shen in a big way! For that, I am thankful! So, I'm off to Portugal for three days, returning late afternoon on Friday.
A couple of fun things have happened this week that I want to share. Last week, Connor and Shen got on our neighbor's sport court and "kicked" the ball around. You will see from the picture that they had a great time outside.
The second picture is courtesy of our neighbors, the Wards. They got Shen a little monkey that he just loves! The picture is how he positioned the monkey to join him while watching TV. And, on a funny note, Margie Ward asked me what he had named the monkey. Since I didn't know, I asked Shen the name of his monkey and he exclaimed, "Monkey!" As if I didn't know..........
We hope all of you are well!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Dr. Visit and Trails of History

The past few days have been eventful, needless to say. Shen went for his second doctor visit to get the results of his immunization testing. The good news is that he has most of the immunizations he needs, the bad news is that he still needs a few. So, round 1 of shots took place on Friday. Shen was a real trooper, just looking at the needle in his arm, as if to say, "OK, when are you going to really give me a shot?" The next round of shots will be in late November. There is also a bit a "cautionary" news. Because of the tainted milk problem in China, and the fact that Shen may have been exposed to the milk, he has to get an ultrasound to check for kidney stones. The results of the ultrasound will also be given to us at the next doctor appointment in late November.
On a fun note, Shen and I went to the Trails of History exhibit in northern McHenry County yesterday. It is a re-enactment of life in Northern Illinois during the late 1800s. I LOVED it but I don't think Shen could really appreciate it. All the food was cooked on an open fire, there was clog dancing, military procedures, trappers demonstrating their goods (note the photo with this post), Indian dwellings, and the whole nine yards. It was really great!
We hope and pray that all of you are well!
God Bless!
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Shen's First Emergency!

Well, there was a little excitement today in the Groppel household! I was on the phone, finishing a call and Shen walks up to me and very calmly holds his hand up with one of his wooden rails (from his train set) attached to his forefinger. And, I mean attached! As you can see in the first picture, he had somehow forced his finger through the hole in the rail and couldn't get it out. So, being the calm daddy that I am, Shen and I walked upstairs and pulled the vaseline out of a drawer in our bathroom. Mommy, hearing that we had come upstairs, came over to see what her boys were up to and saw the predicament. Well, vaseline didn't work. Connor came in the door and thought we should try soapy water. Great idea, but it didn't work either. So, Shen and I headed downstairs, got the car keys and headed for the emergency room.
However, our neighbor (the newest angel in Shen's life) Andy Ward, is a physician (he heads up the Anasthesia department at Sherman Hospital) and he was in his driveway. I pulled in his driveway and in our neighborly way of doing things, exclaimed that "We are headed for our first emergency room trip!" Andy came over to investigate and knew he could take care of it. So, it was back to our house!
Andy first tried thread to get the finger down a bit, then he tried ribbon (which is the second picture). Finally, he said, "We probably need to cut it off." Andy went over to his house and came back with some big wood cutters. Shen remained calm while Andy did surgery on the wood (the third Picture). The wood fell away from Shen's finger and all was well again!!
Thank you Andy for being a special person in Shen's early life with us!!
We hope you enjoy the pictures!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Shen's First Tennis Strokes

Well, I know a lot of you have been wondering when this would happen. I have even been asked "When are you going to get him on the court?" Today was the day!! I had a tennis workout planned with my good friend, Rick Miller, this afternoon and the Little Man went with me. Mommy's ankle is not healing very well so we decided to give her a break and the boys went out for a little tennis.
For most of the time, he stayed in the shade (it was 83 degrees today) and played with his trains. I could tell that he had never been around a tennis court before because all he kept saying as Rick and I were hitting was, "Wow!" Toward the end, Rick and I thought we would get him out on the court with us. Rick was kind enough to toss balls to Shen and, without any teaching, he made contact pretty well.
It has been a beautiful weekend here in Chicagoland but we all know it is short-lived. Even Shen realizes it (I think) because, when he reads at night with Mommy, one of his books is about an adventure with Winnie the Pooh. The book takes Pooh and Piglet through all the seasons, with Winter being at the end. On the Winter pages, Pooh is building a snowman and Shen will point to it, seeming to indicate that he is going to do that. Yes, you will Shen. Chicago weather in December, January and February is not like Southeast China, where it is summerlike all year long.
We pray that all of you are well.
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

World's Largest Corn Maze

Hello everyone! This has been a fairly uneventful week as Shen is enjoying his first seasonal change. He is noticing the trees changing color and cool, crisp air as Autumn grabs the Chicago area full bore. Jodie is planning to involve Shen in a couple of playdates over the next few days with other families who have adopted children, so it will great fun to witness how well he socializes with other children. To date, everything we have seen is that Shen connects very well with other children, sharing and enjoying the all the activity that comes with toddlers.
Recently, Connor, Shen and I went to Richardson Farm, which boasts of the world's largest corn maze. It is 28 acres and has 11.1 miles of maze trails. Please look at the first picture to see an aerial view of this year's maze, dedicated to the Election Year. After that you can see various pictures of Connor and Shen posing at different parts of the maze. There is a picture of them preparing to enter the entire maze with a sign above, saying "Get Lost Here," then a picture of them preparing to enter one of mazes that leads to a design of the U.S. Capitol, and finally a picture of our boys atop one of the small bridges that the farm has to show people "where they are" in the 28 acres.
We didn't stay too long since we went late in the day but we all plan to go back next year, make a day of it, and enjoy the wonder of such an adventure.

Shen's "tinker" musical talents

Today's meeting with our social worker went very well. Amy was incredibly supportive and gave us some great advice! We will continue to have 6-month and 12-month placement meetings with her.
The next "events" for Shen are next week: His evaluation with the school district that will take place in Mandarin, and the results of his immunization testing from Dr. Ochs.
Today, after Connor got home from school, he and Shen built some "tinker toys" musical instruments. Note the picture attached with this posting of how little man plays his "tinker toy" guitar and sings to his "tinker toy" microphone.
Love to all of you!
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen

Shen's First Workout

This has been an interesting week. We are learning more and more about what "American" foods that Shen likes and dislikes. We are trying to get a handle on his sleeping habits to get the transfer into his own room done in the very near future. Connor has been the ultimate big brother this week, helping Shen in a lot of areas where he easily could have deferred to mom or dad.
Shen has gotten totally involved in all our daily activities. He and Mommy just got back from shopping and he is now unwrapping a new train/fire engine set to play with.
Jodie and I have our first post-placement meeting with our social worker this coming Monday. We are looking forward to seeing Amy Trotter on Monday and getting feedback about the attachment process that Shen, and all of us, are going through.
The attached pictures were really fun to see. I took Shen with me to a workout with my personal trainer this week and Shen just jumped in and wanted to try things out as well. You can see that little man has quite the physique AND the attitude to be a pretty physical guy. God's plan for his future is going to be really fun to watch!!
Enjoy the pictures!
Love,
Jack, Jodie, Connor and Shen